In and Around Cars Fact Sheet

Key Facts

Non-traffic related incidents occur in places other than a public highway, street or road. They occur in driveways, parking lots or off-road locations and may involve bicyclists, pedestrians, non-moving and moving vehicles.

In 2007, non-traffic incidents were associated with an estimated 262 fatalities and 115,000 injuries among children ages 14 and under.

Annually, more than 9,000 children ages 14 and under are treated in emergency departments for injuries that occurred while they were unattended in or around motor vehicles.

Vehicle Frontovers

In 2007, 106 children who were 14 and under were struck and killed and 3,000 were injured by vehicles moving forward in non-traffic incidents.

Deaths and injuries occurred in driveways, parking lots and off-road mostly to pedestrians and bicyclists.

Non-traffic deaths from this type of incident account for 49 percent of all fatalities and are the leading cause of nontraffic related deaths.

Vehicle Backovers

In 2007, motor vehicle backovers were associated with an estimated 99 deaths and 2,000 injuries among children ages 14 and under.

Approximately 39 percent of backover deaths occurred at home in the driveway, an apartment parking lot or in a townhome complex.

It is estimated that backovers account for 45 percent of nontraffic crash fatalities and 20 percent of nontraffic crash injuries to children.

Sport utility vehicles and trucks are involved in more backovers than cars.

Heat Related Incidents

From 1998 to 2011, 527 hyperthermia deaths were reported as a result of an unattended child in a hot vehicle.

On average, 38 children die annually from hyperthermia or heat stroke when they are unattended in a vehicle.

A child’s body lacks the same internal temperature control that adults have. Their bodies heat up 3-5 times faster than an adult’s body. A child’s body temperature may rise to 106 degrees Fahrenheit within 10-15 minutes.

Without emergency treatment, heat stroke can lead to death or permanent injury.

Within 10 minutes, the inside temperature of a vehicle can be 20 degrees hotter than the outside temperature; after 30 minutes the vehicle’s temperature can be up to 34 degrees hotter.

Approximately 50 percent of hyperthermia deaths among children in vehicles occurred when the child was “forgotten” by a distracted parent or caregiver; 30 percent of deaths occur when young children gain access to an unlocked, unattended vehicle or trunk and 17 percent occurred when a child was intentionally left in a vehicle.

Laws and Regulations

Nineteen states have laws that prohibit leaving children unattended in an automobile. Penalties for leaving children alone range from noncriminal traffic infractions to second-degree manslaughter.

As of September 2001, all new vehicles are required to be equipped with a “glow in the dark” trunk release.

“Traffic Safety Facts: Not-in-Traffic Surveillance 2007- Children.” NHTSA’s National Center for Crash Statistics. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, June 2009.

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Revised 04/15/12